JP - Wine Cellar

Tzeitel reached the wine cellar. Unfortunately there was a bureaucratic asshole there who would not let her help herself, or sell her anything, or barter anything.

“Look, I just want a fucking bottle of whiskey. I’m over 21. If you knew the day I was having you would give me my weight in whiskey.” Tzeitel was getting incredibly pissed off and had tossed off her leather jacket. Her hands were going to the glands in her arm.

“TZEITEL!” Delilah’s voice was harsh and came from behind her. “What the fuck do you think you’re about to do?”

Tzeitel spun around. “It’s not like you don’t get wasted sometimes yourself!”

"That's not the point Tzeitel and you know it" Mark said as he entered the room.

“Besides, it’s sometimes and I don’t do it often, which seems to be a problem yer having, Tzeitel. You do know what alcoholism is, right?” Delilah seethed, hands on her hips.

Cody was close behind Mark with Ami and frowned. “What are you doing?! I thought you were trying to be better?!”

Tears pricked Ami’s eyes when she realized what Tzeitel had been after down here.

“What the hell.” Tzeitel groaned. Everyone was ganging up on her again and she did not even have Colt in her corner anymore. “I have good reasons to want to drink.”

Disgust suddenly crossed Cody’s face and he stepped right up to Tzeitel, getting in her personal space. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” He yelled in her face. “Look at Ami, Tzeitel! LOOK!” He pointed toward her, narrowing his eyes. “Is this what you want to do?!”

Tzeitel flinched. She was already feeling terrible for Colt, making Ami cry made her feel so much worse. She just wanted the pain to stop, to go numb. She hung her head.

Cody just stared at her with a stern expression on his face, but his voice was calmer now. “Tell me, Tzeitel, do you want Ami to grow up watching you drink yourself into a stupor all the time? Or, do you want to raise her so she can have a future where being a meta is as natural as being a human?”

“Metas are human.” Tzeitel said in a small voice, hugging her arms uncomfortably.

“That’s not what society thinks, Tzeitel, and you know it.” He snapped, the anger returning. “Don’t you dare change the subject! This is about Ami and how what you’re doing is extremely unhealthy - not only for you, but for her. What if something happens? What if I can’t care for her and you get killed?! Who is going to be there for her, Tzeitel?!”

“Nothing is going to happen to me.” Tzeitel said, her shoulders stiff.

Cody laughed a harsh and cold laugh. “Can you promise that?!” He asked loudly, not caring that everyone was seeing this side of him. He was fed up with seeing Ami cry all the time. “Because if you can’t, I don’t think you’re qualified to keep watching over your own little sister. Tzeitel, I am telling you this because I am sick and tired of seeing her cry over you and this self-destructive behavior. Either get your shit together or I’ll make sure you get stuck here until you do.”

“Dammit Cody.” Tzeitel whispered, her eyes felt hot. And ironically she wanted to drink more than ever. “You don’t know what just happened.”

“Then explain it instead of running off to alcohol!” Cody ordered. “Is it because of Colt? Because he actually fucking cares?!”

"No, it's because he's hurt and all I can do is hurt him more!" Tzeitel said. "And everyone else ran off first!"

“You sure it’s because they ran off? Or did you push them away again?!” Cody’s voice stayed stead, but full of anger. He was doing everything in his power not to yell at her now.

"I didn't push Klaire away this time." Tzeitel scratched her neck scars.

“Yet you’ve been pushing her away almost every single day up until now.” Cody pointed out. “Everyone is worried about you and going down this road of self-destruction is going to make them worry even more! It makes me worry, makes Ami worry! Don’t you care about that?!”

“Of course I care, dammit.” Tzeitel said angrily. She wanted to drink so badly. Klaire had walked off and she could not even lean on Colt anymore. “You and Ami shouldn’t be worrying about me.”

“We do worry, though.” Cody bit back his anger. “And you’re turning into a drunk!”

Tzeitel winced. That hurt. Her parents were drunks and did all sorts of drugs. She did not know how much Ami remembered about them. She doubted her parents’ reasons for drinking were as valid as her reasons to drink. They had not survived Canestone, or MegaCorp, used as bait so a bastard could murder a friend’s father, or had another close friend turn out to be in love with them for years.

Cody just stared at her, waiting for a response - waiting for her to justify herself. In all honesty, any reason was not a good reason to go off and get drunk. It was no reason to become self-destructive.

So, when she didn’t respond, he turned and left.

“Cody?” Ami tearfully called after her brother. She felt like her family was falling apart.

Delilah looked at Ami. “If you need to go after him, you can.” She turned her gaze back to Tzeitel. “I think it’s time for an intervention…”

Ami looked worriedly at Tzeitel, then took off after Cody.

Tzeitel’s whole body was tense. “You don’t understand the shit I’m going through, D.”

“That doesn’t mean you go and do this to your friends and family, Tzeitel.” Delilah said in a far calmer voice. “You need to understand that this is not a healthy way to handle things…”

“I know it’s not, but neither is fucking Canestone getting cloned. Twice! There are two of those fuckers running around and he’s already raped and tortured at least two victims.” Tzeitel said. “And my friends… Colt is still fucking in love with me so I can’t lean on him anymore and Klaire is pissed and took off.”

"Then perhaps it's time to accept the fact that you need help" Mark replied.

“You need to listen to them, Tzeitel…” Klaire said as she stepped into the room and looked at her best friend. “And is it really so bad that Colt loves you? He’s trying not to cause you trouble…what happened was just…it was a slip up on his part. Right?”

Tzeitel hugged her arms, looking small and tense as a coiled spring. “It’s not the same, it’s not fair for him… and aren’t you busy not wanting to be near me now?”

“Are you seriously going to bring that up right now?” Klaire’s frown returned, annoyed.

Tzeitel bristled. “I can’t even disagree with you about something without you taking off in a cloud of dust.”

“That’s because all you do is disagree with everyone now!” Klaire sighed heavily.

“You want my little sister to risk her life using her powers on everyone!” Tzeitel said.

Frisk walked briskly into the room. “Please stop fighting-”

“Excuse me?!” Klaire stopped when she heard Frisk’s voice and looked at her. “Fine, I’ll stop…it’s not like talking to her helps anyway…” To hide her upset, she left, dodging around Mark and Delilah as she went.

“See? That’s what I mean! She just runs!” Tzeitel called after Klaire, knowing she could still hear her.